NEW DELHI: Osama Bin Laden, the
leader of the terrorist outfit al-Qaeda and the mastermind behind the
September 11 terrorist attacks on America, was arrested by the Delhi Police
at the New Delhi railway station on Sunday evening.

Bin
Laden, who tops the Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) most-wanted
list and who has managed to evade intensive combing operations by the
US, was apprehended at 5:42 pm and subsequently booked under the Prevention
of Terrorism Ordinance (POTO).

In
what is being hailed as the most significant arrest ever made in the country,
Bin Laden, who had booked a ticket under the name George W Bush, was nabbed
on platform number 9 of the railway station while trying to board a train
to Aligarh.

According
to sources in the crime branch of the city police, a tip-off by an anonymous
caller led to the arrest of Bin Laden, who is wanted by various governments
worldwide for his involvement in terrorist activities. ``An anonymous
caller rang up the police station in the Kamala Market area on Sunday
afternoon and hinted that Bin Laden might be present at the New Delhi
railway station. Keeping in mind intelligence reports received over the
past few days which indicated that Bin Laden's presence in the country
was a strong possibility, we took the caller seriously and rushed police
personnel to the railway station,'' reveals a senior crime branch official.

Following
a frantic -- ``yet thorough'' -- search of the New Delhi railway station,
the police were finally able to track down two men who matched the physical
description of Bin Laden. ``Actually, the first arrest we made turned
to be a resident of Shalimar Bagh,'' says the police official. With the
list of suspects narrowed down to one, seven police officials in uniform
and four in plain clothes rushed to platform number 9 and cordoned off
all possible escape routes. ``The suddenness of our arrival took Bin Laden
by surprise. He was in no position to offer resistance,'' claims a senior
police official.

Bin
Laden is reported to have broken down after intensive interrogation and
revealed that the Al Qaeda, with logistical support from the Liberation
of Tamil Tigers Ealam (LTTE), was fine-tuning a secret plan to blow up
``the most sensitive building in the country.'' Currently being cross-examined
at a ``secret location,'' Bin Laden, according to the police, has admitted
to his ``involvement'' in the September 11 attacks and admitted to ``close
ties'' with militant organisations in Jammu & Kashmir. Incidentally,
Bin Laden's arrest under POTO comes close on the heels of JKLF chairman
Yaseen Malik being booked under the same legal provision.

Senior
officials of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), on their part,
maintain that the investigative agency had ``definite information'' that
Bin Laden was in Ghaziabad on February 25. ``However, Bin Laden was probably
warned that we were on his trial and managed to give us the slip,'' says
a CBI official.

After
receiving information that Bin Laden had been arrested in Delhi, the FBI
is reported to have made desperate attempts to contact the Delhi Police
and the ministry of external affairs. While it is clear that the FBI wants
Bin Laden to be extradited to the US immediately, the Indian government's
response to this request is not clear as of now. Meanwhile, the FBI is
also believed to have contacted Interpol in an attempt to negotiate the
conditions for Bin Laden's transfer to the US.